Question: Do you think Mr. Modi will
ever apologize for his misdeed of the 2002 Massacre?

Ghouse: God gives an opportunity to his
creation to repent and ask for forgiveness, it’s an act of easing out of the
accumulated anguish (guilt), and restoring the spiritual and psychological
balance from within. God is kind, merciful and extends the date for apology and
gives a life time of opportunity to seek repentance. There are examples from
Prophet Muhammad’s practice, where someone sought forgiveness on his last
breath and prophet said, God will accepts that. However, God withholds judgment
till the Day of Judgment. No one goes scot free; everyone bears the burden of
his karma in one fashion or the other.

As Indians and as Indian Muslims we
have many choices, some of them are:

Write him off as a
man who would not apologize and engage in a life long battle with him in
defeating at every opportunity and place. The down side is finding the
resources and time for it.

Our time can be well
spent in restoring the lives of the victims of the 2002 massacres. What Indians
and Indian Muslims are seeking is justice to the people, and that really should
be the bottom line and not Modi’s pound of flesh.

Forgive him unconditionally.
A few Indian Muslims may oppose this off the bat even though the Qur’aan says
clearly that Allah loves the person who forgives the most. There is wisdom in
it and goes towards building a cohesive India that is good for all Indians.

When the Ulemas or
religious and civic leaders gather in thousands, as they have done on different
occasions, include forgiveness to Modi as one of the items of their agenda; let
this be a highly publicized event with the media in full gear.

Invite the national
media, and the key leaders from all communities including BJP leadership, let
each one of them speak for five minutes about their take on forgiveness and its
consequences.

Then at the appointed
time, make the announcement that Muslims are forgiving the men involved in the
2002 Massacre including Modi and want to put this behind and focus on pulling
the victims out of destitution and restore their hopes and lives. All speeches must
be geared for national reconciliation and goodwill.

Invite Mr. Modi to
attend the program, don’t be disappointed, if he chooses not to participate,
but if he does, honor him, and let him
know that Muslim are forgiving him as of now with no conditions.

Make an appeal to Modi.

Dear Narendra Bhai, You have a moral responsibility to the well
being of every citizen of Gujarat, whether they personally elected you or not,
you still represent them.

Your fellow Gujaratis were massacred under your
guardianship, and I hope you feel their pain and anguish.

Narendra Bhai, you have many choices; one among
them is repentance, the praischit, and I urge you to seriously consider it. It
is the Michami Dukadam of your life that is seeking forgiveness and forgiving
others for any grudge you may harbor against others. Right now, you have a
choice to start your spiritual and political life with a clean slate.

This means making good with the people who have
suffered under your leadership; it will bring Mukti (salvation) to you. The other
choice is to resign and show the strength of your character.

Your moral character in the only sustainable
legacy you can leave behind, and not the wealth you create for a few. Gujarat
has been around and will always be there with or without you, and I hope you
are humble enough to see it.

You may consider working on earning genuine
respect from every Gujarati, particularly the downtrodden living in the refugee
camps. Uplift their lives. You will be uplifting a huge moral burden of fellow
Guajarati and fellow Indians. Your honesty and integrity will be transparent in
how you handle the situation.

As a leader of one of the industrially advanced
states, you have a duty to establish Gujarat as a state that respects law,
where justice will be served to every Gujarati, whether they live in a Jhompdi
(Huts) or the castle. Every Indian should feel safe, as the law would take care
of the wrong doers. You need to express your courage to speak up and follow
dharma, the right path.

You can begin by mustering the courage to
apologize to the citizens of Gujarat and restore their lives and bring justice
to them. It will bring peace to every Gujarati and every Indian. It takes a man
to do it, and I hope you are man enough to do it and turn things around for the
16000 men and women living in refugee camps. Do them good, restore their life
and earn their goodwill. Once they see the results of restoration of a genuine
man, they will forgive you and support you and, they will stand up for you, if
you stand up for them.

Question: Should a person like Modi who
is known for his partisan role and
for being anti-minorities be projected as a candidate for Prime
Ministership of a secular and multi-religious country like India?

Ghouse: Yes, if he apologizes on his
own, and there shall be no compulsion. Again, listen to the wisdom of Qur’aan,
freewill endures, compulsion is short lived. Apology in words will not cut it,
it has to be followed by action by uplifting the
downtrodden living in the refugee camps and bringing a positive change in their
lives. If their lives are restored and Muslims feel genuinely hopeful, then
Modi should be given the chance. The bottom line is not revenge, but
restoration of justice to the people to whom injustice was done.

Question: Prestigious "Time Magazine" and Brookings Institution have
lauded
Modi in recent days. What do you think- was it not wrong on their part
to shower praises on such a controversial man known for caring a damn
about human rights and human values?

Ghouse: Times and Brookings institution failed in their responsibility to write
an objective report, which is challenged anyway. Modi’s men are working
diligently, spending the time and money to project Modi as the leader of India.
I believe both the institutions were unduly influenced and have lost their
respect for integrity. I wish Modi’s men had spent that money and time in
helping the refugees out of the squalor and put them in homes.

Questions: Do you see the gulf between Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat will
narrow in near future?

Ghouse: Nothing will ever change if
everyone sits around and expects miracles. Miracles will not happen. God helps
those who help themselves, its God’s promise to mankind including Muslims.
There are a number of things Muslims can do – develop good relationships with
fellow Guajaratis. Get involved in the civic affairs of the state and be a part
of everything every Gujarati does. Ask Muslim to write columns in how to
improve the bonding and relationships with fellow Guajaratis. I will be happy
to write it, but there are many out there. Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer and a
Gujarati Doctor who lived in the United States are doing a great job in
writings articles to bring the communities together. I just cannot think of his
name now, but he and I have had correspondence once a year. He can really guide
Muslims.

If there is a conflict, blame the
individual and not the religion. It will contain the conflict to individual and
will not spread. It is a culture that has to be developed and established, it
will take some time.

Here was an advice from my father. During the communal
riots in Jabalpur in the early sixties, both Muslims and Hindus were killed in
the mayhem. I wish every father in India, teaches the following lesson to his
kids, as my father taught me. He told us that the "individuals" are
responsible for the bloodshed and not the religions; he was very clear. He
said, you cannot blame the nebulous understanding of religion and expect
justice. The individuals responsible for disturbing the peace should be
punished under the law, and a resolution to the conflict must result by serving
justice. He said you cannot annihilate, kill, hang or beat a religion, then why
bark at it? It is not the religion; it is the individual bad guys that are the
problem.

Crime is always
committed by the individuals, and each individual must be brought to justice to
restore faith in the society. When you believe that your rights will be
protected by your government, you feel safe and secure and that is how you
build cohesive societies.

The role of a Muslim
is to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill. If you study Prophet’s life from
this point of view, you will see that was the main drive. I give a speech on
the topic, Insha Allah, when I visit India, I will be happy to give a talk on
the topic.. . . . . .

Mike Ghouse is an
Indian Muslim American committed to building cohesive societies, in the Indian
context he hopes no Indian has to live in apprehension, discomfort or fear of
the other. Mike Ghouse is committed to building to offer pluralistic solutions on
issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on
pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice.
Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on
national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at
Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, and several other
periodicals across the world. The blog www.TheGhousediary.com is updated daily.

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INDIAN FLAG

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Indian Heroes

Patriotism

Upright Beauracrats

Community information

REAL ESTATE IN INDIA

INDIAN HEROES

These are the men and women from among Hindus, Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Jews, and other traditions that are deeply committed to the idea of One India and one people acknowledging the uniqueness of each one of the Indians.

Their work brings people together, their effort is to restore harmony among Indians unlike some lost souls who are hell bent on pitting one Indian against the other.

Lord Krishna had said, whenever the negative forces become stronger in dividing families and disrupt peace and harmony, he will emerge among them to restore sanity, the same idea is reflected in Quran, that God does not deprive his goodness to anyone and sends a peacemaker to every community and nation. After the founding fathers of the nation, these are our real heroes restoring dharma – the righteousness. Dharma is when people get along, mind their own business, live their lives and let others live theirs. God has created all of us and respects each one of us is the highest form of worship.

I salute them for their work and they come from all walks of life. They see you as an Indian and nothing but an Indian. They believe every human should be free to eat, drink, wear or believe whatever he or she wants in the pursuit of their happiness.

Please share stories of such Indians who have made efforts to build a cohesive India, an India where no Indian lives in apprehension, tension or fear of the other.

INDIAN HEROES - NEW FROM 12/20/17

PATRIOTISM

Two of India’s dangerous trends: Misplaced Patriotism and intolerance towards different points of view.

The real heroes of India are those who relentlessly “criticize” the government because they do not want their government to falter and make decisions that will mess up the social structure of the nation. They keep the government rascals on their toes. After all, they are elected to serve us not the other way around. The real heroes rise the nation for the common good of all.

What do the Chamchas on the other hand do? They wear a false badge of patriotism and to them patriotism is oppression of those who differ, and war mongering. They cannot handle criticism of government, they are yes sir, yes sir I lick your chappals. They bring down the nation by keeping their man at helm in a bubble giving him or her false assurance that everything is alright.

I hope the Prime Minister wises up and invites and honors those who criticize him, they are the real supporters of him by reminding him from falling into the pit. He should welcome all those who criticize. He needs to defend the rights of such heroes. The Indian Citizens on the other hand need to make a conscious effort to support those who criticize the government, BJP or Congress or any one.

The test of a successful civilized nation is when every man and woman of India can breathe, eat, drink, wear and believe whatever the hell she or he wants to believe.

UPRIGHT BUREAUCRATS

These are the public service heroes; officers who go against their political bosses to do the right thing for India, i.e, every Indian. We will be developing the list as we go forward. You can send in your entries to MikeGhouseforIndia@gmail.com

UPRIGHT BUREAUCRATS

ABOUT MIKE GHOUSE

Mike Ghouse is committed to his life mission of building cohesive work places, communities and nations. His work is for the Indians and Americans where each one of the 322 million Americans should feel secure without apprehension or fear of the other.

He is one of the 5 people in the world who is actively pursuing research, activism and teaching the subject of Pluralism. Just Google and find a tremendous amount of work on pluralism in religion, politics, society and culture. Mike defines Pluralism as an attitude of “respecting the otherness of other” and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of us.

He is a pluralist, thinker, writer, activist and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, politics, Islam, human rights and foreign policy including India and Israel-Palestine. He is a news maker, interfaith wedding officiant and a community consultant and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.

Dr. Ghouse has appeared in over 300 National TV shows and is a frequent guest with Hannity and Varney shows at Fox News along with others. He has over 1000 hours of Radio Shows of which 700 were dedicated to interfaith and pluralism. Over 3500 articles have been published of which a 1000 were on politics, foreign policy, sports and movies, a 1500 for interfaith and pluralism matters and a 1000 plus on Islam. In addition Mike has conducted workshops on Atheist to Zoroastrian and every one in between.

Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His work is at www.Centerforpluralism.com and www.WorldMuslimCongress.org

Welcome

We are proud of our heritage - a multi-faith, multi-cultural, multi-regional and multi-linguistic society, where we have come to accept and respect every which way people have lived their lives. For over 5000 years, India has been a beacon of pluralism - it has embraced Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Baha’i and Zoroastrianism to include in the array of the indigenous religions; Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. India led the way to the freedom movement, since 1947 every country has been liberated from colonialism. Indian democracy is a shining example to the world, where the people have peacefully transferred the powers. Indians are inherently secular and economically capitalistic. They believe in "live-and-let-live" life style, which is the essence of capitalism.Through the years we have expressed the highest degree of maturity on handling extreme situations; the more divergent opinions we hear, the larger our heart grows, the bigger our embrace would be and we can cushion more differences. Let’s continue to honor the concept that there is always another side to the story, as finding the truth is our own responsibility.I am proud of my heritage and am proud to be an Indian-American. Please join me in the discovery of India on a daily basis, as time permits and share the wealth of knowledge you have on this forum.

DallasIndians@yahoogroups.com is the information exchange center for the Indian community living in the Dallas/ Fort Worth Metroplex. You can join by sending an email to: DallasIndians-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com